1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network game machine connected via a network to a plurality of client machines and running a network game wherein a plurality of players using the client machines can participate. Further, the present invention relates to a game system having the network game machine. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a recording medium, such as a computer readable medium, having recorded thereon a processing program for operating the network game machine and computers which the network game machine comprises.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-220804, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the recent rapid development of network technology, the public is able to access various Web sites and make use of them. It is becoming possible to play network games wherein a plurality of players can participate from such Web sites. Network games of this kind are considered to become widely prevalent in the future along with the establishment of communication infrastructures with high capacity and high speed, which can realize complex and advanced game contents.
Furthermore, the advantages of network games of this kind in comparison with arcade games or home games are that it is possible to play the same game with players at separate locations. In network games having this advantage, it could be considered to be possible for a plurality of players to participate in the same game so that, for example, competing with other players at separate locations or cooperating with each other to complete the game is possible.
Depending on the contents of the network game, the number of participating players could be limited or the number of participating characters used by the players could be limited. For example, considering a horse racing simulation game as an example of a network game, the number of participating horses in one race is limited to about eighteen. Thus, the number of participating characters in one race used by players as their own horses proves to be limited to about eighteen. Moreover, the number of players who can participate using their own horses proves to be limited to a maximum of eighteen even if each player uses only one of his of her own horses.
Not only in the horse racing simulation games but also in network games which limit the number of participants, the number of applications for participation in the game could exceed the limited number of participants. In such cases as this, if all the applications were received and the game were performed, it would become difficult to perform the game, thus detracting from the enjoyment of the network game.
Furthermore, depending on the content of the network games, the enjoyment of the network game could be reduced even if the number of participating players or characters used by the players did not exceed a predetermined number. For example, considering a horse racing simulation game as an example of a network game, the number of participating characters used by the players could be only three in one race. In this case, a race with 3 horses proves to be less exciting, thus detracting from the enjoyment of the network game.